Possible Flu Pandemic Shines Light on Border and Security Problems

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano today told America that the government is not testing airplane travelers from Mexico for the swine flu virus that has heightened fears of a possible pandemic. The borders with Mexico remain open. Not even a fears of a pandemic can get this goverment to take the border issue seriously.Joe Hard sent a related article today on immigration and open borders:

Eight years after 9-11 illegal immigration is still a mess in the US. Millions of illegal aliens have entered this country and made America their home. These people entered the country illegally by not going through the normal process of obtaining a visa from the US Government. Instead these ‘illegals’ snuck into this county through all sorts of imaginable ways – from hiding in boxcars to swimming the Rio Grande River.

People on the left like to say that those who speak out against illegal immigration are racist since the majority of illegals are predominantly Hispanic. Americans want the laws upheld and only want people entering this country legally – especially since 9-11 when it was determined that some of the hijackers who murdered thousands entered the US illegally, but not through Canada. It still makes sense that we uphold the law if we have a law, doesn’t it?

Also, a sound immigration policy makes sense. It protects the country from terrorists and other radicals. It prevents sickness or disease from spreading in the country. It also prevents people from entering our country and becoming a burden to hard working tax paying Americans. If the policies make sense, then why are there millions of illegals in the US today and what can be done to stop this?

First of all, contrary to media and left wing belief, the US is still the greatest country in the world and that is the main reason that we have illegal immigrants. People are willing to risk their lives to get here. After all, you don’t see people taking small boats or surf boards from the US to Cuba or Venezuela. You can tell how popular and prosperous a country is by the number of people trying to get into it versus the number of people trying to get out of it.

The demand to get into this country is beyond great – it is overwhelming. An immigration attorney a couple of years ago said that the government came out with a special work visa and on the day people were eligible for applying, the number of applicants outnumbered the number of visas which were planned for the entire year. All that you have to do is go to the government’s website and see what the status is for your visa application and you quickly discover the magnitude of the waiting list. The government posts what days the applications were received they are currently working on. In the case of spouses and other close family members the application receipt dates can be months, if not years ago. In the case of some applications (like brothers and sisters or other relatives) the receipt date is in excess of 10 years. If it was you and you had the choice of swimming the Rio Grande versus waiting 10 years to be with your family, what would you do?

OK, so the demand is great, but why can’t the government process applications any quicker than 10 years? This is a great question and also relates to so many other government programs. The problem with government agencies is that they have no motive to work harder. There simply is no competition for the government. Let’s look at the immigration process as an example. An individual who wants to come to the US to live and is required to obtain a visa must go through a number of challenges before this goal is met. He or she must complete a lengthy application. In most cases, people get lawyers to assist them because it is so difficult to complete. Also, if an individual does not speak English it becomes even more challenging. But once the application is completed and assuming it is accurate, the application is sent into the government where it is placed in a queue where it sits until it is either sent to a different location for more sitting and then eventually processing.

Now let’s compare this to a similar type of activity where there is a profit motive which causes competition and therefore results in good quality and service. In the insurance industry, individuals fill out applications for individual life policies that are similar in size and scope to the immigration applications. Insurance companies measure the amount of time to process these applications and rarely is a policy underwritten in more than a week. In the reinsurance industry, where time is of the essence, a policy with complex attributes can be underwritten in minutes or hours, let alone days. The key ingredient to this process is the profit motive which causes competition and expedites timeliness and increases customer satisfaction. The government must somehow instill this into the immigration process.

After implementing processes with competition and opening the doors to more good people through a simple increase in the number of visas, the government should enforce its laws by arresting illegals and sending them back to their home countries. Clearly the illegals in a competitive immigration environment would be those individuals who would not likely be allowed to enter this country in the first place. The government does have work to do. The solution is not name-calling, or fear mongering, but implementing holistic changes to the process.

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